How to fix the Dynabreeze 450 heavy duty wall fan to fibro cent panel cladding?

[roger1960]

we have a relocatable home in a lifestyle village and i purchased the heavy duty fan from bunnings yesterday, the wall is fibre cement cladded with what appears to be thin ply behind it plus wall insulation, as the unit is relatively heavy i was looking for some guidance regarding fixings, the unit came with wall pugs and screws for masonry but they didn't look suitable for the fibre cement cladding.

[EricL]

Hello @roger1960 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your Dynabreeze wall mounted fan.

A wall mounted wall fan creates a great deal of dynamic force when it is working. It's therefore important that it be mounted onto the stud frame of the wall. I suggest using a stud finder to see if you can locate the studs in the wall. In order to mount the fan properly timber noggins must be placed between the studs so that you'll have something strong to anchor to. This means that the weatherboard will need to be removed and the noggins placed inside. 

The other option is to install timber support pieces outside your wall and anchored onto the stud frame. You can then mount the fan onto the timber support pieces.  

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1, @Noyade and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @roger1960 

I would be following @EricL's instructions They are pretty much the same steps I would be taking as well. You may be able to find a stud if you have a look and see if you can see a row of vertical nail or screw heads going up the wall as well.  You may need a stud finder tho (was just looking at your second photo) as I cant see any obvious markings 😕

Dave

[Nailbag]

Hi @roger1960 

I also agree with @EricL in ensuring you fit at least to one side of the fan's fastening points to a timber stud. You might find locating this difficult with a stud finder as it looks like you have a compressed materials cladding, which standard stud finder don't work on. Locating a join or signs of filled screws or nails might give a better location indication.

Nailbag